WEST MILFORD Concern is growing in West Milford among emergency responders, such as the fire department and first aid, regarding residential house numbers and how they are displayed. All responders have voiced frustration because on many occasions they are unable to find the homes or businesses from which emergency calls have come. Numbers are often not on display or the quality is too poor to be seen. The town council already has a law on its books requiring all buildings to display numerals at least three inches high at or near the front entrance to the building. The ordinance also specifies that these numbers must be visible from the neighboring street meaning they must be clearly seen from the roadside. The number of stories where callers could not be located because of either no house numbers, or missing street signs is growing. There was a pedestrian hit by a passing car that was unable to tell the police his location because there wasn’t a street sign. There are numerous accounts of the police traveling back and forth along the same street trying to identify a particular address from the few house numbers which are showing. Rich Kunze, the township administrator is aware of the problem and said the town does intend to make the issue more public, “The township does have regulations in the code that mandate residents to have house numbers in place on their property but there is no enforcement provision. We will be doing a press release to make the public aware of the requirement and of the value to their safety in displaying a house number so that police and first responders can locate the right property.” Among those on the front line is the West Milford First Aid Squad. Liam Glinane, who acts as the Public Information Officer, said, “If there is an ordinance, every resident and business owner should comply with it. In reality, however, several people do not post house numbers. There might be a number on a house itself but it is not visible from the roadside.” Glinane added, “If people make their house number obvious from the roadside it will result in a quicker response. It’s the difference between a rapid response and a delayed response.” The town’s Fire Marshall, Mike Woch is equally concerned with the problem, “It’s very important that people have these numbers clearly displayed, it can be very difficult to find many houses.” Woch advised that the frequency of this problem is rising, “It happens every day. Some houses are set so far back off the road sometimes the only way we find them is by the fire itself.” Woch did provide advice for residences and businesses to make their building as visible as possible to responders, “First of all, house numbers should be displayed which are at least three inches high. These numbers should not be the same color as the house, they should contrast. If the house is by the roadside the numbers should be on the front of the house, or if the house is set back off the road the numbers should be on a mailbox provided the mailbox is by the side of the road.” In the event of missing or damaged street signs Administrator Kunze is asking for the public’s help, “The township replaces street and other traffic control signs as needed. While we make note of the signs we see missing, residents are also encouraged to call or e-mail us to report missing or damaged signs.”